LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Natalie Paul, and Clarke Peters are all part of the cast of HBO’s miniseries “Show Me A Hero,” which hails from “The Wire” creator David Simon, and is based on the nonfiction book by Lisa Belkin of the same name.

The 6-hour miniseries will tackle the prejudices, myths, and heated emotions stirred by the public housing debate, with a landmark case at its core.

The short story goes, in 1988, when a federal judge ordered the city of Yonkers, New York, to integrate more thoroughly its low-income housing throughout the city, it set off a bitter dispute that would consume the town for the next five years. Among those caught in the controversy was the city’s 28-year-old mayor, Nicholas Wasicsko, who had used the issue to his advantage during his campaign and found that he would never be able to escape it, either during or after his administration.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson plays Norma O’Neal, described as the stoic, hardworking home health aide who has struggled to raise a family in Yonkers’ worst projects, even as her own health fails her. Natalie Paul plays Doreen Henderson, a young woman born in Yonkers public housing but raised in the suburbs, is drawn back to the projects, where her life spirals out of control. And Clarke Peters plays Robert Mayhawk, the consultant hired to help educate tenants bound for the townhouses about life in their new neighborhood.

Paul Haggis (“Crash”) is director of the miniseries, based on a script by William F. Zorzi, a writer on “The Wire.”

“Show Me a Hero” premieres Sunday, August 16 at 8/7c on HBO.

HBO has released a first trailer for the miniseries, which is embedded below: